Bachelor of Arts Honours in English



Dr Catherine O'shea

Programme Description

The BA Honours in English is a one year, full-time, 120 credit, NQF exit level 8 qualification which includes compulsory and elective modules. It provides an important route for progression into further postgraduate studies (Master’s and Doctoral) for those who wish to continue with their studies at the University of Mpumalanga or elsewhere.
The purpose of the programme is to give students an opportunity to engage intensively with a variety of rich texts which will prompt critical and original thought. The programme will equip graduates with appropriate competencies so that they will feel empowered to contribute in terms of both creation and analysis to literary, textual, and rhetorical fields (at a national and international level). It aims to make them active, reflective and astute producers and interpreters of meaning.
Those who graduate with this degree will feel confident in communicating their perspectives and positions and thereby produce cogent and well-articulated responses to matters of local, national, and international importance. This degree will also produce graduates who are life-long independent learners capable of undertaking research in order to make original contributions to knowledge and society.
 

Admission Requirements

To be admitted to the BA Honours (English) a student should have:
  • A Bachelor of Arts or other first degree at exit level 7, with English as a major subject and an average of 65% or higher for English modules in the final year.  

Career Opportunities

Graduates with an Honours degree in English can work in all jobs that demand higher levels of language usage or that involve textual interpretation, rhetoric, communication, or meaning production. Given the breadth, adaptability, and utility of studying English at a postgraduate level, employment opportunities abound for graduates. Our graduates will be critical thinkers, able to approach problems in an original and analytical fashion. Extrapolating from literature, they will be able to offer compassionate and creative interpretations of issues of importance to contemporary society.
Career opportunities include language experts, editors, proof-readers, translators, communications officers, journalists, authors, copywriters, and marketing professionals.
 

Module Structure of the Programme

Module description Module code Compulsory (Y/N) Semester      Credits
Research Report ENC401 Y 1 & 2 30
Research Methodology ENC402 Y 1 15
Select 5 (five) Elective Modules        
Creative Writing ENC403 N 1 15
Theory of Literature ENC404 N 1 15
Comparative Contemporary Literature ENC405 N 1 15
Advanced Seminars in Science Fiction ENC406 N 2 15
Queerness in Africa
(Debates and Depictions)
ENC407 N 2 15
Intertextuality and Postmodernism ENC408 N 2 15
TOTAL CREDITS